Category: Seva
selfless service, sadhana, and its joy
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Ultimate satisfaction
I have been having Amma’s darshan for about 15 years. Amma had come to our place when I was in the 6th standard. We were staying in Suratkal at that time. The program was in a beach side village near Mangalore. My exams were going on at that time but my father forcibly took me to meet Amma. We started from our house at 1 am and reached the program site at 3 am. I had exams the next day so we thought that going early would help us get darshan earlier. I met Amma during the morning program –…
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The initial days in Bihar
10 Sep 2008, Bihar The initial days here in Bihar have been extremely tough for me physically and mentally. We have been running from camp to camp offering medical support for the effected, at times it was difficult for me to just film the situation, without being directly involved, having to stay always behind the camera, feeling completely useless. But what could I do, Im not a Doctor, nor can I speak Hindi to console the people. All I can do was watch, and people watched me with such intensity expecting me to do something, to say something. But I…
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I could go to Bihar?
04/09/06 Amritapuri I was standing behind Mother on a darshan day when She started talking to Brahmachari Nijamrita about Bihar and the flooding that was causing Hundreds of thousands of people to be displaced from their homes. I had heard about it on TV and in the newspapers, so I was eager to see how Mother would react to the disaster. She wasted no time in making phone calls to Her Brahmacharins in different parts of India to make arrangements for aid relief in the affected areas. I was witnessing Her compassion first hand and felt blessed to see Her…
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Recycling
I have found a new source of enjoyment in my current seva. It is sorting the recycling into categories that can be sold or disposed of. Bins are collected from all over the ashram; the burnable items are separated and taken to be burnt; then we sort the remainder by type: plastic water bottles, other plastic, drinks cartons, metal and glass. There are special containers for bottle tops, pens, batteries, light bulbs etc. The satisfaction comes from turning ‘rubbish’ into something useful and profitable for the ashram. It has certainly changed the way I view the material that I use…
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at Amrita Niketan
A visit to Amrita Niketan, the orphanage and boarding school for disadvantaged children at Parippally, is often a highlight for visitors to the Amritapuri ashram. The recent visit of 45 international visitors was no exception. The children gave the visitors their usual warm-hearted welcome. The older students were having exams, but the younger students were available to share their songs and dances with the visitors. Everyone enjoyed the Adivasi (tribal) dances. These are the circle dances the children learn in their villages. They sing in call and response as they dance. Often the leader will create new lyrics on the…
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Harvest your seva
We left Ahmedabad at nine in the morning, just two hours after Amma finished darshan. When we were on the road for a few hours one of the seven Ashram busses broke down, so the whole karavan parked along the side of the new four laned highway that leads to Jaipur. The sun was at it’s highest and the heat in the bus was building up. I stepped outside and saw that many brahmacharinis had done the same. Just next to us there was a family harvesting wheat. All morning they had cut the grain by hand, and bundeled it…
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Spotless beach
During my walk through the crowd, the grounds of the yajna shala was covered with paper and plastic. This made me sad, but as the sun was rising, to my surprise, I heard that Amma had called all her devotees to help clean the trash. About 30 people rushed to help, and in about 15 minutes, the whole place was clean! No one could believe it.. Yes, Amma is the greatest sweeper! Amma’s invitation to help in this service showed us how we can participate at each moment in caring for Mother Earth. Mother, we want to serve you in…
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fuels life of selfless service
. . . . . . .. Last year, he went to India as a volunteer, taking along his wife, Ayako, a black belt in her own right. He was invited by Shantamrita Chaitanya (American Brandon Smith). He is director of the Mata Amritanandamayi Center Japan and the nonprofit organization Amrita Heart, which serve Japan on behalf of Mata Amritanandamyi, nicknamed Amma, and known worldwide as the hugging saint. (Last in Tokyo, she hugged 8,500 people in three days and still had energy to spare. She’ll be here in spring for four days of programs — May 25-26 in Kobe,…
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Amma’s Path
Amma’s grace has allowed us to be with Her at Amritapuri these past three weeks. She has provided many opportunities to connect with the inner and outer mother. Both my husband and I have had the seva of cleaning Amma’s path. It is a job that is physically taxing especially during the persistent rains that we have had daily. My poor health at the time did not help either. Of course, there were also numerous challenges to the ego that really tested the ability to focus and respond from a spiritual perspective. Despite the difficulties, it was very beautiful to…